Gavin
From FiranMUX
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Contents |
Overview
Gavin Rissik's life was one filled with scandal, betrayal, loss, redemption, and sacrifice. Born the son of the great Garen of the Seven Heroes and the Chimera Clan Leader Akinita he seemed to be destined for greatness.
Personality & Beliefs
Gavin was largely an easy-going, fun-loving person. He loved to socialize and seemed to have the ability to feel comfortable with people no matter their social class. He had that rare generosity of spirit and a seemingly optimistic outlook on life, but that was just the surface. Beneath the veneer of social gaiety Gavin was complex man with a shrewdness that he hid well. His 'Can Do' attitude was at times obscured by his desire to not be seen as too power hungry lest he be accused of being too like his siblings. Gavin was fiercely protective of the family he had left at the time of his death. The final years before he died he began to close ranks and not spend so much time as the social dandy that he did in his youth.
Ranks & Offices
At Time of Death
Priest, Temple of Elik
Past
Republic Minister of Education
Acting High Priest, Temple of Elik
Family Life
Gavin's childhood was not as idyllic as many might presume it to have been. He cared very dearly for his mother but his father was often absent and at times an embarassment for Gavin. He feared people would remember the things Garen did before his heroic deeds, but that fear seemed to be ill-founded. Gavin was closest to his sister, finding his brother too austere for the fun and games that Gavin and Eliana liked. As he grew up Gavin was taught the importance of his position as a noble and his duty to clan and family. His father left with Ravinor Elianos and Queen Sabine to seek out the Vrelands in 20 AU when Gavin was not yet twenty.
Gavin's mother, Akinita, was a controversial figure even before she was accused of and executed for treason. Akinita was a commoner appointed to take over care of the clan when Elianos became Ravinor. Having a different view on life meant that she encouraged the Chimera to be resilient and self-sufficient, to take charge of their own lives and not resign themselves to their supposed lots based on place of birth. It was her loyalty to Elianos and her actions in the Great War which earned her the honor of the medallion. Akinita took the name Rissik for the family, drawing it from her own father - Gavin's grandfather Riss.
Riss was well-admired by all, including Gavin. He looked fondly upon his grandfather for stories of how life had been before and as a strong male influence when Garen was busy saving the world. His death in 21 AU following several years of water sickness struck Gavin hard, but not as hard as the death of his mother and brother just four short years later.
No longer having his parents or brother around Gavin was left with his then wife Gellina Ista Aldrik and their two children Akiva and Sirio to comfort him. With the Rissik family and the Chimera Clan in turmoil Gavin joined the clan of his father, the Bear Clan, and his wife's family. His sister Eliana had several years before married Prince Vahlgellan Elianik and by the time of Akinita and Sabinus' death was living in exile in Caldera City with her inept spouse - something which Gavin would come to hold against her for the remainder of his life.
Siblings
Sabinus(d) - Unlike with his sister, Gavin and Sabinus were never particularly close. There was a link between them that comes with sharing blood and growing up together but their natures were worlds apart. That did not stop Gavin from loving or admiring his stoic elder brother. Sabinus was honest to a fault and expected others to be as well. His stubborn belief that others should live up to his standards was, in Gavin's eyes, his down fall. Sabinus was executed along with Akinita in 25 AU. Some claim that Sabinus' body was engulfed in flames as Firanos was angry with the Firans for executing his High Priest, but the Rissik family - Gavin included - have never said anything and some say that it is untrue and he was given a funeral.
Eliana - Gavin and his sister were close as children. They were playmates often united against Sabinus' seriousness and their father's gruff nature. As they grew older their closeness shifted and changed when Eliana left with her husband Prince Vahlgellan to Caldera City. Gavin had not seen his sister in over twenty years by the time he died and he had grown to become bitter towards her. While Gavin was left in Anarinuell to face the execution of their mother and brother Eliana was away. While Gavin was left to face the near destruction of the Rissik family during the Antonian Apostasy Eliana was away.
Marriage
Gellina Ista Aldrik
Some may have found it ironic that Gavin would fall in love with an Ista Aldrik given the trouble his brother had with the women of that family. He met Gellina when she was serving as a medic and he a soldier. Their relationship was steamy and caused a few raised brows especially when Gellina went against her family and aunt, Queen Sabine's, wishes to wed Gavin and become a Rissik and a Chimera. They were still Chimeras when their children Akiva and Sirio were born, changing clans after the death of Gavin's mother and brother. Eventually politics would push them apart and Gavin and Gellina divorced, but both held the hope of rekindling their marriage in the future. Life caused them to grow apart and eventually Gavin remarried. Not long after he did Gellina died and Gavin was devistated. He attended her funeral and gave a kind eulogy to the love of his youth.
Timandra Derato
Gavin's second marriage was not quite as tumultous as the first but definately interesting. He was told he would wed Lady Timandra Derato, a widower of the Cockatrice Clan, and she and her children would become Rissiks and Chimeras. Gavin had been expecting to wed Lady Willona Didoron, but she was denobled and executed in a scandal a year before he would wed Timandra in 36 AU. Gavin had known Timandra for many years as she was a devout Elikian and an initate of the temple. He began spending more time with her, befriending her and he thought wooing her - all of which had to be done secretly as she was a Cockatrice. Unbeknownst to him Timandra's cook was poisoned in the midst of his courtship and he became a likely suspect! Their wedding was tense considering the bride's suspicions but over time things were smoothed out and Gavin went to his death a happily married man. With Timandra he had one last son - Hedarius.
Children
Accomplishments
Olympic Medals
36 AU Olympic Gold Medal for Team Archery/Weapons Thrown 36 AU Olympic Bronze Medal for Archery
Scandals
Oh Brother, Where For Art Thou?
Antonian Apostasy
Gavin, like many, was unaware of a group of conspirators forming in the city. A group of men and women, reputedly led by the Chimera Antonius Marcus and his friend Sir Nathim Ista Ankur worked to upsurp not only the Lord Viceroy Taleo Teranzik but also the then Chimera Clan Leader, now Lady Inaya Elikista. In March 39 AU the group's existance was revealed following a series of raids ordered by the viceroy. New information and rumours surfaced daily. In the midst of it the Rissik family was arrested and denobled - the charge of treason leveled against Yasha and Kristover (and later Orestes). Gavin's wife Timandra was made of head of house. The innocents were released and charges dropped save for the original three. Yasha and Kristover were executed while Orestes died later. The remaining Rissiks were forced out of their home into a cottage confiscated when the Keniran family, also implicated in the Apostasy, were evicted to the Old City.
Gavin was considerably angry over what happened, though he understood that the blame did not lie with the Chimera throne and then Clan Leader Inaya Elikista, but elsewhere. He felt upset at his family having had their gift from Ravinor Elianos stripped away from them and wanted to do his best to rebuild their reputation. It was this drive to achieve respectability that pushed Gavin, despite his poor mobility, to fight in Ellish and ultimately to his death.
